The Enemy Within:
World War II and the Treatment
of Japanese Americans
Germans, Italians, Mexican
Americans, and
African Americans
With Executive Order 9066,
Franklin D. Roosevelt
authorized the Secretary of
War to decide what groups of
people had to be relocated
from areas where they might
present a threat to national
security.
Residents of
Japanese ancestry,
born in Japan or
in the U.S.,
became the
biggest targets.
There were many detention centers
Why did this
JapaneseAmerican
business
owner post
this sign?
Some Japanese residents accepted the offer to go back to Japan.
How do you think they were treated in Japan?
Germans and Italians also became
targets of suspicion, but they were
treated differently than the
Japanese.
Prisoners of war from Germany
and Italy were detained at many
camps in the United States
What differences do you see between these
detention centers for German-Americans and
the Japanese internment camps?
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
1. Hundreds of Italian immigrants were arrested in the months
following the Pearl Harbor attack. By June of 1942, the total
reached 1,521 Italian aliens arrested by the FBI. About 250
individuals were interned for up to two years in military
camps in Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
2. Italy's surrender on September 8, 1943 brought the release
of most of the Italian American internees by year's end.
Some had already been paroled months after "exoneration"
by a second hearing board. Nonetheless, most of the men
had spent two years as prisoners, moving from camp to
camp every three to four months.
3. For the most part, Italians in the U.S. were only relocated
and ordered to stay away from major ports. Source.
During World War II more
than 51,000 Italian
soldiers were brought to
the United States as
Prisoners of War.
Some of them met
and married
American women.
The 1943 Zoot Suit Riots
Zoot Suit Riots Timeline
•May 31: Twelve sailors and soldiers clash violently with Mexican American boys near downtown. Seaman
Second Class Joe Dacy Coleman, U.S.N., is badly wounded.
•June 3: Approximately 50 sailors leave the Naval Reserve Armory with concealed weapons to revenge the
attack on Coleman. They target the neighborhoods near the Armory and attack anyone they can find wearing
zoot suits -- giving birth to the name "Zoot Suit Riots".
June 4: Rioting servicemen conduct "search and destroy" raids on Mexican Americans in the downtown area - whether their victims are wearing zoot suits or not. The servicemen employ twenty taxis to look for zoot
suiters.
June 5: The rioting continues with attacks on all "pachuco"-looking males. A group of musicians leaving the
Aztec Recording Company on Third and Main Streets are attacked. Attorney Manuel Ruíz and other Mexican
American professionals meet with city officials. Carey McWilliams calls California Attorney General Robert
Kenny to encourage Governor Earl Warren to appoint an investigatory commission.
June 6: The rioting escalates and spreads into East Los Angeles. Kenny meets with McWilliams regarding the
investigation and creates the McGucken Committee. Chaired by the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, Joseph T.
McGucken, the committee blames the press for its irresponsible tone and the police for overreacting to the riot.
June 7: The worst of the rioting violence occurs as soldiers, sailors, and marines from as far away as San
Diego travel to Los Angeles to join in the fighting. Taxi drivers offer free rides to servicemen and civilians to the
riot areas. Approximately 5,000 civilians and military men gather downtown. The riot spreads into the
predominantly African American section of Watts.
June 8: Senior military officials bring the riot under control by declaring Los Angeles off-limits to all sailors,
soldiers, and marines. The Shore Patrol is under orders to arrest any disorderly personnel. The Los Angeles
City Council passes a resolution banning the wearing of zoot suits in public, punishable by a 50-day jail term.
Source.
•
•
•
•
•
The Zoot Suit
Decked out in wide brim hats,
baggy pants, high boots and
long-tailed coats, these "zootsuiters" called each other "mad
cats." They were "Terrific as the
Pacific" and "Frantic as the
Atlantic." Crossing cultural lines
and pushing the boundaries of
race and class, they were trying
to define for themselves what it
meant to be an American in
1942 Los Angeles. Even though
there was no evidence to
connect "zoot-suiters" to crime,
the kids' posturing and selfassurance made Anglos
nervous. Source.
The Los Angeles Police
Department arrested Zoot
Suiters who had been beaten
up and charged them with
disturbing the peace. The
servicemen were simply
escorted to their base and told
to stay there. They only obeyed
when the military called the
city off limits.
The 1943 Detroit Riots
In the hot summer of
1943 a fatal race riot
began and raged out of
control in Detroit.
Inflammatory rumors
spread amongst already
antagonistic
communities, and open
fighting between fellow
Detroiters ensued in the
streets. It was sparked
by a series of fights on
Detroit's Belle Isle
involving African
Americans and whites
Thirty-four people died during the riots. Source.
Sources
Japanese, German, and Italian Experiences during WWII
http://www.teachersparadise.com/ency/en/media/d/d0/japanese_internment.jpg
http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/Amer_pol_hist/thumbnail375.html
http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webquests/hysteria/sresearch1.htm
http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/imagefolder/internmenttrain.jpg
http://history.sandiego.edu/cdr2/PATCH/NA/ww229.jpg
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/japanese_internment/exclusion_order.gif
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/japanese_internment/internment_law.cfm
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/COS-Biennial/index.html
http://www.italianpow.com/filmsummary.html
www.traces.org/germaninternees.html
African Americans and Hispanics
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ww2latinos/index.html
http://www.worldwar2history.info/Army/Jim-Crow.html
http://www.bulldozia.com/jimcrow/jimcrow2.php
http://chronicle.augusta.com/blackhistory/05/stories/met_vets.shtml
http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/GoldenJubileeExhibit/GJ%20WEB/III_Politics_and_Pressures.htm
http://www.michigancitizen.com/
http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/faces/crisis.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/
Download PDF of report Separate and Unequal: Race Relations in the AAF during World War II:
http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps47803/